Arrangement of contact spring strips



A ril 25, 1967 J. BERNUTZ 3,316,525

ARRANGEMENT OF CONTACT SPRING STRIPS Filed Nov. 5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 25, 1967 J, BERNUTZ 3,316,525

ARRANGEMENT OF CONTACT SPRING STRIPS I Filed Nov. 5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5 6

United States Patent 3,316,525 ARRANGEMENT 0F CONTACT SPRING STRIPS Johannes Bernutz, Ludwigsburg-Hoheneck, Germany, as-

signoito International Standard Electric Corporation,

New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 5, 1964, Scr. No. 409,215 Claims priority, application Germany, Nov. 14, 1963, St 21,324 3 Claims. (Cl. 339-176) The invention relates to electrical contacts, and in particular to an arrangement of electrical contact spring strips consisting of a plurality of spring contacts inserted in rows in recesses of an insulated housing which may be fitted together with plug-in elements of insulating electrical contacts.

In general, contact spring strips are arranged in housings to make contact with through running contact knifeblades. To this end, separate walls within the housing, made of insulating material and separating the individual contact springs, are provided to assure suitable recesses for each contact knife-blade. When using such contact spring strips in conjunction with insulating wafers bearing a printed circuit, the contact knife-blade may be placed along the edge of that water and be fastened to the wafer. The contact spring strip is mounted upon-and firmly fastened to the housing in order to provide connections between the components fastened on said wafer and the overall circuit arrangement. In many cases, it is necessary to connect defined groups of contacts, which are independent of each other, for testing or special circuit arrangements, when the wafer is removed. This was hitherto possible only by using individual plugs, a procedure which presents difficulties due to the narrow separation between contacts and the number of individual plugs which must be handled.

The primary object of the invention is therefore to create a device, enabling by simple means, a sub-divisional arrangement of the contact row into single groups, whereby for each of said groups a connection through conventional contact-blades is made, said blades having a correspondingly reduced width. In addition, the sub-division should also be possible without such measures, preventing the use of the originally provided contact blade after the device has been removed, or even preventing such a reuse at all. The problem is solved, according to the invention, in that at least one filler piece, inserted removably into the contact spring housing within a contact row, serves as a guide piece for a contact knife-blade, associated always with one group of contacts. The filler pieces can thereby be fixed either in pairs on each side of a contact knifeblade or individually within the width of such a contact knife-blade. In the latter case, the contact knife-blade is provided with a slotted recess into which the filler piece engages as a knife-blade guide.

A particular embodiment of the invention employing filler pieces is provided for use between contact spring strips. These filler pieces are accommodated in recesses separated by insulating studs, with the surfaces of the filler pieces arranged in parallel to each other. These filler pieces are designed in size and shape to correspond to the exterior dimensions of the contact springs and are insertable into the recesses prepared to receive the contact springs in place of selected contact springs. This construction permits arbitrary sub-divisions of the strip, just by replacing individual contacts with a filler piece.

Placing the filler pieces in the housing recesses is a simple matter, since each filler piece is equipped with a spring-type element which locks into a receptacle, provided in the contact-housing, when said filler piece is plugged into the pertinent recess.

To avoid a loss of contacts in one embodiment of the invention, a construction is used in which the filler pieces are mounted on a plate fixed on the knife-blade side of the contact housing. Mounted this way, the plate has for each contact knife-blade, a recess incorporating contacts associated with one contact group.

Further embodiments and advantages of the invention may be gathered from the following explanation of examples, schematically represented in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a contact panel, composed of contact spring strips, with inserted plugs as a possible construction of a device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows perspective views of an individual contact housing together with inserted filler pieces and a plug constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the construction of the contact housing illustrated in FIG. 2, including an elevation view as seen from the plug face in FIG. 3A and with a sectional view in FIG. 313;

FIG. 4A shows two views of a wafer-like filler piece to be inserted instead of a contact spring;

FIG. 4B illustrates a particular contact spring;

FIG. 5 shows the use of a cover plate for the plug end of the contact housing with an inserted socket; and

FIG. 6 shows a section of the cover plate according to FIG. 5.

In accordance with FIG. 1, several contact strips 2 are accommodated side by side in a housing 1, said contact strips or contact spring strips, including a large number of contact springs 3. The contacts shown in FIG. 1 are like ones used conventionally for printed circuit wafers. The contacts arranged side by side are therefore arranged in such a way that, in principle, for several or all cont-acts, a through-running knife-blade strip wit-h suitably arranged conductor sections can be used as a plug-in part. In the example shown in FIG. 1, individual knife-shaped plugs 4 are used, instead of wafers with a through-going knifeblade strip to connect together several contacts located side by side. Onto these plugs, switching connections for the individual contacts and particularly elements of lines to other plugs can be arranged as indicated at 4'.

FIG. 2 shows an individual contact spring strip, the housing 5 of which includes pocket-shaped recesses 6 on the plug-in side of the housing to accommodate the contact springs. On the back side of the housing, terminal lugs 7 for the contacts are permitted to protrude. In the example shown in the drawing, two of the contacts or contact springs, are replaced by filler pieces 8. Between these two filler pieces two contacts 6 are provided, which can be connected electrically by means of a plug 9. The filler pieces 8 protect the plug terminal against lateral shifting. The terminal 9 is constructed in a conventional way like a knife-blade and bears on its contacting end a galvanically applied or plated conductive section 10, which section could also be made conductive by dip-soldering.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show further details of construction of the contact spring housing 5. The recesses 6 are separated from each other by insulating studs 12 which prevent any lateral shifting of the inserted contacts. These insulating studs 12, which extend toward the base of the recesses 6, form on the plug-in end of the housing respective recesses 13, spaced as shown over the length of the housing. The recesses 13 serve to accommodate the contact-blades. Moreover, at the bottom of each recess 6 an opening 15 is provided in the rear wall of the housing 5 to permit the terminal lug of a pertinent contact to extend through the housing.

The filler piece 8 shown in FIG. 4A corresponds in its external dimensions to a contact spring 3 shown in FIG. 4B. Therefore, the filler piece can be inserted into a recessof the housing in place of a contact and has an elastic stud 16 which will extend through the opening 15 in the rear wall of said housing, normally provided to hold the terminal lug 7. The end of the stud 16 has the shape of a cam 17, holding the filler piece safely in place at the rear wall of the housing against undue shifting towards the plugging end. The filler piece can be removed from the contact strip by bending the elastic stud 1 6 side-wards.

An embodiment of the invention accordingto FIGS. and 6 has on the plug end of each contact spring 2, a

' cover plate 18. The cover plate 18 has a slotted recess 19 foreach group of separated contacts to permit insertion of the pertinent contacting knife-blade. The fillets 24 between the recesses 19, having the width s are, however, in generalnot suflicient to keep the contact knifeblade safely in place. In order to hold the knife-blade on the housing side of the cover, plate 18 locking pieces 20 (distinguished from the filler pieces 8 in FIG. 4A) are provided at each fillet to engage the corresponding recesses 13 (in the manner of plug 9, FIG. 3B) between the insulating studs 12 of the cont-act spring housing. The contacts on either side of the locking piece are not obstructed by this construction and can be used for contact-making as usual.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5, the entire contact spring strip is sub-divided into 4sections so that a separate plug can be provided for each section. A common connection of the four contact groups is possible; e.g., by-means of the plug 21, also shown in FIG. 5, the contact sections 22 of which are separated from each other by recesses 23. Said recesses 23 thereby fit because of their position and size, over the fillet sections 20 of the cover plate 18. Contact sections 22 fit contact springs 3 and also into the recesses 13, as indicated by plug 9 in FIG. 3B.

While the principles of the invention have been described above in connection with specific apparatus and applications, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Electric contact making devices, comprising:

a housing;

a plurality of contact springs;

means including openings through a wall of the housing and insulating studs along other walls of the housing for supporting said contact springs in rows in said housing;

a contact knife blade bearing a conductive section;

a filler piece;

said filler piece being shaped to fit between said insulating studs and serve as a guide to receive and to hold said contact knife blade;

each contact spring incorporating a terminal lug;

each terminal lug being proportioned to fit through one of said openings in the housing, and

each elastically deformable stud being arranged to deform most readily in -a direction transverse to the plane of the filler piece.

2. Electrical contact making devices, comprising:

a housing;

a plurality of contact springs;

means including openings through a wall of the housing and insulating studs along other walls of the housing for supporting said contact springs in rows in said housing;

a contact knife-blade bearing a conductive section;

a filler piece;

said filler piece being shaped to fit between said insulating studs and serve as a guide to receive and to hold said contact knife blade;

a plate provided to enclose said housing;

said plate. incorporating slots therethrough to receive the contact knife 'bl-ade; and

said plate including locking pieces to fasten said plat to said housing.

3. Electrical contact making devices substantially as claimed in claim 2, in which:

the studs include recesses; and the locking piece-s engage said recesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,468,368 4/1949 Jackson 339-193 2,911,609 11/1959 Burtt et al 339- 476 X 2,946,033 7/1960 Wirth 339-184 X 3,118,716 1/1964 Breillier 339-176 EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

W. DONALD MILLER, Examiner. 

1. ELECTRIC CONTACT MAKING DEVICES, COMPRISING: A HOUSING; A PLURALITY OF CONTACT SPRINGS; MEANS INCLUDING OPENINGS THROUGH A WALL OF THE HOUSING AND INSULATING STUDS ALONG OTHER WALLS OF THE HOUSING FOR SUPPORTING SAID CONTACT SPRINGS IN ROWS IN SAID HOUSING; A CONTACT KNIFE-BLADE BEARING A CONDUCTIVE SECTION; A FILLER PIECE; SAID FILLER PIECE BEING SHAPED TO FIT BETWEEN SAID INSULATING STUDS AND SERVE AS A GUIDE TO RECEIVE AND TO HOLD SAID CONTACT KNIFE BLADE; EACH CONTACT SPRING INCORPORATING A TERMINAL LUG; EACH TERMINAL LUG BEING PROPORTIONED TO FIT THROUGH ONE OF SAID OPENINGS IN THE HOUSING, AND EACH ELASTICALLY DEFORMABLE STUD BEING ARRANGED TO DEFORM MOST READILY IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THE PLANE OF THE FILLER PIECE. 